Sacramento Raceway Park Closing?

BREAKING NEWS…SACRAMENTO RACEWAY PARK LAND IS FOR SALE. It was recently reported in an exclusive article written by the Sacramento Business Journal that the property that is home to Sacramento Raceway Park has been placed for sale. Because you have to be a SBJ subscriber to access the article we decided to research the sale to determine if it is real or fake news.

Unfortunately, drag racing fans the news is all too real and accurate. There is an active listing for this property by Paul Frank, 916-714-8012 for $11,000,000. The listing boasts that the property is approximately 200 acres, home to Sacramento Raceway Park, and available for M1 Land Development.

What does this mean for the future of Sacramento Raceway? At this point in time, we have placed a call to the raceway to attempt to get some answers, but unfortunately we have yet to receive a return call. We can only guess that if the land is purchased by a commercial developer that the raceway could be replaced by yet another housing subdivision, strip center, industrial park, or shopping mall. But, who knows. After all, we can’t foresee the future.

What we can tell you is that it is our opinion that if the land sells, the future of the raceway will be doomed. Unless the purchaser is a drag racing enthusiast, it will be a stretch to find someone who would be willing to fight to keep the raceway open over making some quick cash off of a commercial development. In the current time where tracks, such as Redding Dragstrip fight to protect their land leases from airport expansions, the potential sale of the Sacramento Raceway land is just another blow to drag racing, and to motorsports in general.

We are sure that Sacramento Raceway Park may not appreciate the fact that we wrote an article about the commercial listing, but we believe that this situation is something that Nor Cal drag racers and enthusiasts need to know about, and understand. In fact, it is something that all west coast drag racers, and enthusiasts need to know about.

So, what can be done to convince the owner to remove the listing and forego a potential windfall of $11M. This may seem negative, but probably nothing as cash speaks volumes over the sport that we love. Your opinions, ideas, and suggestions are welcome.

UPDATE 3/27/17 2:27 P.M. – SACRAMENTO RACEWAY PARK LAND IS FOR SALE–We just spoke to a representative of the Smith family regarding the current land listing, and here is an overview of what we discussed…

As many of you may know, Dave Smith and his family have been fighting the county for many years to keep Sacramento Raceway Park operational. Unfortunately, as of 2020, it looks as if the track may be nearing the end of its battle due to the county’s planned residential and commercial development of the area. It is for this reason, according to the family, that Dave Smith has put the land up for sale.

According to the representative, they are not trying to make a windfall of cash, they are simply doing what the county is forcing them to do. What can be done to stave off the inevitable? Unfortunately, it looks as if the county has made its decision to force the track out in 2020. Could a petition presented to the county help? Maybe, but the reality is NO!

So what can be done until then. Well, at this point, until the day comes that the track officially announces that they are closing, or determines that a grassroots effort will help, all we can do, as Nor Cal drag racers and spectators, is continue to show support for the dragstrip that we all love…Sacramento Raceway Park.